Christmas Day!!! (NEW CAMERA! BETTER PICTURES!!

OK, big news, Mike got a very nice camera from Grandma (Barbara) and Grandpa Skip. For you tech dorks that will eventually ask details, its a Canon Digital Rebel XTi. I like to call it the big camera that makes pictures nice. Seriously though, we are very excited since the pictures are completely amazing! Thanks guys! It really makes a difference...


In case you are wondering, Sarah is holding a weirdy old timey camera. Her present to us is to "video tape" or "film" or "make slides that go fast" of Lily and her parents playing. She is going to send it to us after she does her editing thingy. Great introduction into Auntie Sarah! She also made Lily's first Christmas ornament. Then I smashed it with my man-hands. Then she made an even better one and we are going to say that one was the first first ornament Lily was given.
(Sarah does not read this blog so I thought I would talk about her a lot and then she would have to see what I said about her.)


Ahhh, we love her! And that dress Stacey is wearing...its...fab....u....lous.


All in all we were a very happy happy family on our first Christmas with our new little girl! She really does make things so much better. As Mike says "She is the best part of our day." (ahhhh)


We had a few other visitors that gave Lily lots of presents...honorable mentioned goes to Cara Schatz and Stacy Buechele...
Merry Christmas Everyone!!

Christmas! Oh come let us adore HER

Thanks for the cool tshirt Grandma Judy! "Oh come let us adore me..." indeed...

The holiday isn't Christmas without a Monkey...

Lily was excited that we were hanging with her on Christmas morning but she was just concerned about eating the toys. She DID get her first tooth fully on Christmas morning with another one on the way so we think that may have something to do with it. Yes, we thought she had a tooth very early on in her life but we, being the new parents we are, were wrong. I think that will be the last time we are wrong though so I am glad we got it out of the way.

Xmas Eve Fun!

Ok, long overdue updates.... Christmas Eve....


Although Lily had no idea what was going on...she was excited to have everyone stopping to see her. We now know that people don't REALLY come to see us...

Here are some photos of Uncle Drake giving Lily some presents on Xmas Eve. He went crazy on giving this year, which is really nice for a kid his age...a kid that is an uncle!! Please note that Drake is wearing pajamas. This was day number...3 I think which was one less day than his older brother's record of wearing pajamas on consecutive days. We believe that Drake beat him!






Sorry for the horrible pictures....we will get better....

Welcome Cole Harrison Coffey--I am not alone!

Dear Cole,

Thank you for coming into this world with this crazy family! I need all the help I can get. Last time, they dressed me up in glasses, hats, all types of stuff. I will stick up for you, if you stick up for me. Deal.

I can't wait to meet you!

Love,
Lily

PS: Your parents did not dress me up in crazy ways, so you should be safe.

PPS. My mommy says you look just like your dad, but she says a lot of things. ( :

Stacy Buechele, you will be missed...

This is the hat that Stacy bought Lily...of course. It is so Buechele and we love it! Lily can't wait to see the ins and outs of Philly as long as you don't even show her the Eagles Stadium.

A trip to Norfolk

Lily and Grandma had a great visit to Norfolk, VA to see GG (Great Grandma Phylis, above) and Aunt Martha. Since mom and dad were off traveling separately for work, Lily wanted to take a trip of her own.

Lily's first food

She was so great!! Daddy did airplane which she seemed to laugh at so although not much actual food went into her mouth she at least had fun! She definitely made some faces but did pretty well....next stop...Clams Casino! ( :

Ahhh Lily, that isn't what Mommy meant! These are pictures of food that she is trying to eat. I am sure she will get the hang of it!

Lily's First Snow!!

If you squint really really hard you can see the "Village of Chateaugay" sign in the background. Lily didn't seem to notice the snow that much but she was a bit weirded out by the snow touching her face...kind of like...excuse me? I am walkin' here! But then she forgot about it.

I heard it was 70 degrees in DC yesterday......interesting. Where exactly ARE WE??

Anson Makes Lily Laugh

Anson said "When I pet him, he makes me happy"
Stacey says "Is Lily a Boy or Girl?"
Anson says "A GIRL!!" (of course)

I guess they haven't covered pronouns in preschool yet so I will let it go for a bit. ( :

My favorite part of the video is when Anson SPAZES out and Lily finally smiles!

Lily and the Burkes...

Grandma Judy shows Lily the phish...oops, FISH.... (Dude! Best Show EVER!)


Maddy shows the cats to Lil and she finally paid attention to them but these cats are much nicer than our Seven...

Con-Man with the squishy ball.....

Ahhh, Aunt Karen holds sleepy Lily...

Papa rocks Lily in his chair...

Patrick and Matthew read to Lily....can you find the mouse?


Its really great! I am so glad to finally be able to bring my own child into this!! Its so much fun.

Who does she look like?

Daddy and Mommy Bowers....


OK, Mommy "Baldy" Burke's ears are that way so she can HEAR YOU BETTER!

Daddy "Long Flowing Hippy Hair" Bowers was, and always will be, a party animal.
Ok, seriously, who does she look like?!

Aunt Kym and Uncle Don's Shower

Lily Potter and Her Hogwarts...

Just a typical afternoon with the Bowers' Family where someone just happened to have Harry Potter glasses that fit Lily perfectly. So we tortured her with a few 1000 poses or so of this and various other glasses and hats but this one turned out the best.

GramMary (aka: GlamMa) making Lily giggle...


A close up......


One happy family....
Aunt Bobbie and soon to be Grandma! Seems like she will do just fine with her new little tyke on the way...

I now realize that we didn't get a picture of the Parent's to Be...Kym and Don. Well, next time...congrats to you guys!

October Smiles

This is exactly why we became parents. She is so stinkin' cute! The smiles and giggles are more and more obvious and COMPLETELY rewarding.

Long overdue update...

Ok, yes...yes...I know, I know..its been way to long. We had to get an extra push from Mr. and Mrs. Professional Blogger this weekend Ryan and Ali (seen here: http://www.tripdub.blogspot.com/) SHOUT OUT!! Story is, we left our camera at Endo and Anna's...blah blah blah, here is your update:

At Lily's last check this is how she measured up:
Height: 25 1/2 inches, 90 percentile
Weight: 16 pounds 8 ounces, 95 percentile (YOWSER!!)
Head Circumference: 42 cm (75 percentile)

So most of you know that Lily had a hard time gaining some weight in the beginning..(eh hem, cough cough) not so much at this point. We will see people in the grocery store and they guess that Lily is at least 8 months old. No, we are just stuffing her with butter so we can eat her at Thanksgiving a la fois gras style. DELICIOUS!

Lily is giggling all the time now but it doesn't surpass her curiosity. She will stare at you like you are an idiot...and then finally smile. She loves watching people and really thrives with tons of people. THANK GOD FOR THAT!

She is talking and talking all the time too! Talking like.....aww-ooww, aah ahh, arrrrrrr...wooo..wooo not REALLY giving speeches or anything. We have no idea where she gets that. Probably Daddy.

She hasn't rolled over yet. I am not worried about it...I wouldn't worry about it...its nothing to worry about. Here is a few seconds of her trying to roll over...:


So when we last saw Sadie Edelstein Lily's Mommy thought that Lily would NEVER get that big. Well, she was wrong. DEAD WRONG! Lily is bigger than Sadie now and Sadie is 2.5 months older! Hilarious. Oh also, Lily's head is huge in comparison. Yes, be quiet Aunt Karen.

Here is when Lily first met Sadie...
And this past weekend....

Lily goes to the Zoo

A bunch of monkeys. These were the Golden Lion Tamerind Monkeys that they let run "free" to some extent. Anyway, there are really tiny and luckily did not try to take Lily from us. They would have had a battle.


On our way to see the monkeys! She is really reacting more to our voices and she smiles ALL the time. Thank goodness for her Mommy since Mommy really equate smiles with love. ( :
This is Lily getting excited for the zoo. Is it me, or she looking more and more like her Daddy everyday?
This is Mommy showing Lily the Emu. She was way more interested in looking at the kids than the Emu. When I said that to a little girl she said "Geesh, I don't know why, we aren't interesting." I said "Well you sure smell a lot better." Girl: "Yeah, that is true. Bye" Kids crack me up. I don't want Lily to grow up but I also can't wait to hear her say silly kid things.


All in all we had a great day! She was so good we are so lucky.

In other news.....The family went on Saturday to play golf for Endo's Birthday at Top Golf in Alexandria. Very fun! Lily was a perfect angel and smiling at everyone. Thanks to all there! Everyone was so great playing with her. It makes it easier and easier to go to these events. OH and HAPPY BDAY ENDO!!! (Sorry no pictures)
Check out the golf thing, very cool... www.topgolfusa.com

OK, she even KNOWS she is cool. I came home from work the other day to find Lily Cool at my door. Nana had bought her these cool glasses and they matched her outfit perfectly. When Nana started to laugh and I saw her, I started cracking up and then Lily gave this cute laugh/giggle. I think we have a jokester on our hands. YEAH!!

She is pretty cute, if I say so myself...

This was very cute until she almost pulled the flowers down on top of her. I really need to watch this new movement. Yikes! We are excited for it but so nervous too!

Yes. I put the hat on because she was so adorable in it. Good idea if she wouldn't pull it off two seconds later.

Lily does Ethiopian...sort of..

We had a good weekend for Daddy's Birthday. Lily has been so great to go to restaurants with..she just sits on one of our laps and loves to people watch. We love to go out to eat so its good that she is either at the age that it still works or maybe she will be foodies like us! Saturday morning we took her to Guapos in Tenleytown and sat outside. Then on Sunday we went to Meskerem in Adam's Morgan and got to sit in the window seat. Which was great for hipster Dufus watching. We even got some play time while we ate...see some pictures and a video.

Lily's First National's Game

What a great day at RFK! Here are some great pictures of Lily's first National's Game. Lily was amazing and all signs show that she will be as big of a baseball fan as her Daddy. She seemed to love the crowd and was even able to catch a small nap while at the game! Of course, she woke up to the hisses and boos to Barry Bonds. I guess he made a lot of home runs and everyone was excited to boo him. Lily's first MLB game and she got to see the Home Run King*. He was no match for our ZIM-MER-MAN though who had a walk off hit to win the game 2-1!!
GO NATS!
*Barry Bonds took steroids and stuff.

Champagne Toast to her first game!!

Hey Erin! Where is Fred? Uncle Drake!!!

Oh so proud Daddy for the two minutes we sat in the sun.

Perfect little girl with her Daddy. Shade from now on!
RALLY CAPS!!! THEY WORK!!


A special thanks to Granpa G, Glamma Mary and Uncle Drake for making this game so incredibly special for the Bowers Clan! Lily really felt special after seeing the great art work on their car! Well, she is really special but we love to see other people seeing it too!

Hey Anna and Endo!!

We had a great time! Thanks to all that helped make it special!